Review: The Generator Hostel, London

The Generator Hostel, London. It’s a tucked away, but once you find it its as though you’re transported to another place entirely.

Admittedly the weather most likely made a huge difference in my case. Stepping and and out if a grey and damp London, into a warm, bright and very welcoming hostel was just what the Dr ordered.

The Generator Hostel London bills itself as ‘hidden in plain site’, and that description couldn’t be more accurate.

Now this wouldn’t be the first Generator hostel I’ve stayed in. I’ve twice been lucky enough to find myself staying in their Copenhagen hostel, and one day soon also plan to stay with Generator in Rome. I feel Generator is a brand I now know, and trust, and on that basis it would be fair to say that my expectations of their London hostel were high!

The Generator Hostel, London

Checking In

Check in took less than 5 minutes, and soon I had climbed my way (via the lift) to the 4th floor and found both my dorm and bed for the next 2 nights.

Home was to be dorm 435, bed 5, a top bunk … not my fave (I’m a bottom bunk kinda guy), but hey, it was still a reasonably priced bed in the heart of the English capital. Those are few and far between!

The Design

I have so much love for whoever designed the interior of the Generator Hostel, London. What guy/gal!

If you’re anything as geeky as I, you’re guaranteed to love it too! I’ve seen a few super cool hostel interiors in my time, but this is a step up.

Themed floors and a crazy-cool reception area really do make an amazing first impression. They also just make the place that much more fun to be around and enjoy.

Check them out! –>

The Dorm Rooms

My vibrant pink key card led the way into my first bunkbed experience since March.

My dorm held a total of 2 bunks, so 6 beds in total, but also had room for an en suite toilet, and a small wash basin. There was plenty of light, and I was glad to see that the bunks allowed for secure storage space at their bases. There was also plenty of power sockets dotted around the dorm.

Also dotted around the dorm were a number of hooks to hang those damp jackets (London weather!) or towels on. That said, my bunk buddy still found her way to hanging her wet towel off the railings adjacent to my place of rest. Grrrrr!

Lastly there was also a small open type wardrobe where smarter type items and coats could also be hung up, this was unusual to see, but I nice touch! Whilst the room wasn’t massive, the space had certainly been well used, and was far less cramp and enclosed than other London hostels I had experienced.

The Beds

Ah the beds!

Now while as mentioned, I am not a top bunk guy, Generator should be commended for the comfyness of their mattresses. This mattress put my own to shame, and another area where the Generator bunks excelled was their length.

Time after time with hostel bunks I have found that my 6ft 2′ frame is too large. Not in width, but in that I have to assume the fetal position in order to be able to sleep. Stretching out without bashing either my head or feet on the bars that are technically there to stop me falling out of bed, but which usually make me feel like I’m in some kind of torture cell, is common place. But not here. Thumbs up!

The Facilities

Facilities wise I couldn’t find anything missing from the Generator London – although a hammock area like their hostel in Copenhagen would have been nice :) … I don’t think that counts as a ‘facility’ though.

So to run you through the list, there was –

Fast & Free Wi-fi

Available across all areas of the hostel, including the rooms.

Bathrooms

There are private showers on every floor of the hostel, with hot water! En-suite room options are also available in certain rooms.

Laundry

Open 24 hours a day. For a small fee, you can wash (£2.00), dry (from £0.50) and iron to your heart’s content. Admittedly I did not need or use these facilities to comment on them any further, but the prices seem reasonable.

24 Hour reception

Reception is open 24 hours a day, although after dark you cannot come through the main entrance to reception. A member of security will be on hand to guide you though.

Luggage store

The secure storage room on the ground floor is available to keep your luggage safe from £2.00. Again, I didn’t use this facility to comment further, but it is there.

Travel shop

The travel shop can help you out with all kinds of tours and tickets, or in my case if you forgot to bring a pad lock.

The Social Spaces

The Generator Hostel in London is most certainly a social hostel. Where the cafe meets the bar meets the TV room, this whole area is effectively one big social space.

There are big screens showing sports/movies in the cafe and TV room. In the bar there are pool tables. Back into the TV room and a number of tables also double as chess boards.

The TV room can also cleverly be split into 2, and on certain nights one section turns into a mini cinema which is awesome!

The Food and Drink

Generator has recently relaunched their menu, so I was more than happy to investigate the new flavours upon the menu.

The breakfast for me was a little steep price wise, but that’s not uncommon with hostels I’m starting to find. The breakfast itself was simple but nice, and there is the option to upgrade to a full English.

The cafe and dinner menus were much better value in my opinion, and far tastier. As per below I tried (with help from a friend) some Mac n Cheese, hot wings, pasta and a burger. All very of a very good standard, and more than reasonable price wise.

I also sampled the pale ale with dinner, which was lovely, and in the mornings I got my much needed hot chocolate fix.

The Cost

The below are correct at the time of writing (Nov 2015), but of course you should check the Generator website for date specific prices.

Private Twins – from £52 a night

Dorms (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 bed) – from £10.50 a night per person

Female Only Dorms (8, 10 and 12 bed) – from £10.50 a night per person

Private Tripples and Quads – From £16.50 a night per person

The Verdict

Yeah overall I was very impressed and enjoyed my stay immensely.

Decor and facilities wise, the generator is up there with the best I have stayed in, certainly when it comes to London based hostels. Probably the closest to rival it would be either Clink 78 or the Wombats hostel, but I am yet to stay in The wombats hostel so can’t draw any direct comparisons yet.

This is a great hostel offering affordable accommodation, right smack bang in the middle of London (Kings X Underground station is a 10 min walk). While I wouldn’t normally need a bed for the night when in London (I technically live in London myself), if I did, I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again.

Big thumbs up from me!

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Neil Barnes
London based budget travel blogger, instagramer, WordPress geek, football fan, burger and pizza fiend. I am also fairly clumsy and pretty terrible when it comes to spelling.
By day I work in Finance (of all things!), so this here blog is my creative outlet, and tells the story of how I spent my time away from my office desk.

8 Comments

Laisa Machado
December 15, 2015 at 4:02 am

Hi Neil, I’d like to have your opinion if possible. I have 24 years, I’m going solo next month to stay a week in London and I don’t know if I choose the generator or the clink78… people say that generator’s rooms have more facilities, the hostel is better to know other people and has more things to do if I want but at the same time I think that’s nice that the clink78 has a kitchen and a continental breakfast, things that help not to spend a lot with food. I’ll stay in a 4 mix room and the prices aren’t so different, the generator costs 152€ and the clink 162€. Which hostel do you think that have the best atmosphere and facilities in general? Thanks a million!

@Laisa – Hi :) I agree that the Generator has more facilities, the key one for me being lockers in the rooms! There is also breakfast served at Generator, but it costs admittedly. That said, breakfast at Clink is crazy busy!! Clink is still a great hostel though, and the building itself is really interesting.

I really like both places, but if I were to have the choice, personally I think I might head to the Generator, but mainly for the rooms as they were a bit more spacious and have lockers. I do really like Clink though, and they’re new hostel in Amsterdam is certainly on a par with the best I’ve stayed in.

Solid review! Debating where to stay when I visit and Generator pops up time and time again. It’ll be my first official hostel visit.. any recs on that end?? I’ll be traveling through the UK/Ireland for about a month and spending almost two weeks in London (with day trips tbd) so would love to meet some people and get to know the city a little more than the average tourist.Alexandra recently posted..Round-Up: Top 7 Best Instagram Photos Week One

@Alexandra – Depending upon if you’re a light or heavy sleeper, ear plugs are always a good idea in any hostel. For the Generator specifically I would bring a padlock so that you can use the lockers. In terms of meeting with people, check out travelmassive.com to see if there’s a London meetup while you’re in town. It’s a fun and social networking kind of thing, great for meeting other travellers and bloggers.

I think Generator must have upped their game over recent years. I stayed in one near Kings Cross a while ago (ok, possibly may have been over 10 years ago!) The bedrooms were like prison cells, and the bathrooms were pretty grim, and although the rest of the hostel was ok, I wouldn’t recognise the one you stayed in as being part of the same chain! It looks like more of a hotel now! I bet there are prices to match that though?